Can Brazil at COP30 support the “Devastation Bill”? May 31, 2025
- Ana Cunha-Busch
- May 30
- 3 min read
By The Green Amazon News - Ana Lucia Cunha-Busch
This week, the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, was summoned to the National Congress and then targeted by attacks from parliamentarians who are part of the most conservative and patriarchal wing of the Brazilian legislature. In 2023, one of these deputies publicly stated that he would like to “hang her.” Now, he and other lawmakers with little or no track record on environmental issues have returned to the attack, suggesting that Marina “put herself in her place” — in a clear attempt to undermine her authority.
But Marina responded. And her response echoed with the strength of someone who knows what she stands for:
"This is my place. And it is a place I occupy, not because I am a minister, but because I have been committed to this agenda for as long as I can remember. And perhaps I am only in the Ministry because I have this commitment and this practice. So, my place, first and foremost, is to defend the environment. And by defending the environment, I am defending the fight against poverty. By defending the environment, I am defending agribusiness. By defending the environment, I am defending industry. By defending the environment, I am defending Brazil's strategic interests. Because today, everything goes through the environment. That is my place.“
What is the ”Devastation Bill"?
The minister's statement was made in the context of the passage of Bill No. 2,159/2021, which proposes profound changes to the environmental licensing system in Brazil. The proposal, criticized by experts and socio-environmental entities, is seen as a serious threat to environmental protection. Among the most controversial points of the bill are:
✅ License by Adhesion and Commitment (LAC)
Based exclusively on the self-declaration of the entrepreneur
No prior studies required, even for projects with polluting potential
Can be applied to high-impact projects, such as roads and dredging
Allows licensing even in sensitive areas, without technical analysis
Establishes a sampling monitoring model, with no requirement for direct inspection
✅ Special Environmental License (LAE)
A government council would define which projects are “strategic.”
These projects would receive simplified licensing, with political, not technical decisions
✅ Other risks pointed out by experts
The bill eliminates the requirement to assess impacts in areas of indirect influence
This compromises the analysis of cumulative effects, such as deforestation, land grabbing, and contamination of water bodies
Agricultural activities would be exempt from licensing, provided they are registered in the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) — an instrument that does not assess real risks, such as excessive water use or soil degradation
It weakens SISNAMA (National Environmental System) and ICMBio, which would lose the prerogative to authorize licenses in conservation units
The Brazilian contradiction
These legislative changes are being debated in the same Brazil that will host COP30, the largest global climate conference, scheduled for November 2025 in Belém do Pará — in the heart of the Amazon.
The country with the greatest biodiversity on the planet risks approving a legal framework that could dangerously weaken environmental protection just when it intends to present itself to the world as a climate leader.
The response of civil society
Socio-environmental organizations, artists, environmental defenders, indigenous peoples, and social movements are mobilizing. Brazilian society and the international community need to be aware: this is not just a technical discussion — it is a decision that will affect future generations and the global commitment to the Paris Agreement.
The so-called “Devastation Bill” is a step backward disguised as modernization. And in the face of it, resistance is growing.
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